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The influence of surfactant type on monomer conversion and particle size of polystyrene particles prepared by horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mediated miniemulsion polymerization was investigated.Miniemulsion polymerization is a versatile tool for synthesizing polymer particles. In principle, the stability of oil-in-water miniemulsions is attained by the use of a surfactant and a highly water-insoluble molecule (a so-called hydrophobe). Miniemulsions are produced by high-energy homogenization, and they usually yield stable and narrowly distributed monomer droplets; the polymerization of miniemulsions provides polymer particles of diameter 50500 nm. 1A horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed redox system was reported to initiate vinyl polymerization of various monomers, e.g., acrylamide, 2 methyl methacrylate, 3 and styrene derivatives, 4 in which acetylacetone (ACAC) was adopted as a substrate for HRP to generate radicals in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Very recently, we successfully demonstrated the preparation of polystyrene particles by enzyme-mediated miniemulsion polymerization with a polymerizable surfactant, i.e., N,N-dimethyl-N-n-dodecyl-N-2-methacryloyloxyethylammonium bromide (C 12 -DMAEMA), 5 using an HRP/H 2 O 2 /ACAC system in water.6 That report described how enzymatic miniemulsion polymerization could be used as a practical method for the preparation of relatively monodisperse polymer particles, because the approach involved a mild enzymatic process at room temperature. However, the use of surfactants other than C 12 -DMAEMA was not examined, and the role of C 12 -DMAEMA in enzymatic miniemulsion polymerization has not yet been made clear. It would be interesting to investigate the effect of surfactant type because the surfactant affects the polymerization efficiency and many performance properties of the resulting particles.In this study, the influence of the surfactant type on the enzymatic miniemulsion polymerization efficiency is discussed. Comparisons of four surfactants®anionic surfactant: sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cationic surfactant: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), nonionic surfactant: polyoxyethylene lauryl ether (Emulgen 109P), and cationic polymerizable surfactant: C 12 -DMAEMA®were conducted for enzymatic miniemulsion polymerization (Figure 1). The effects of surfactant type on styrene conversion and particle size were investigated. To clarify the role of the surfactant in the enzymatic reaction, HRP activities in the presence of surfactants were also examined.Latexes were synthesized with SDS, CTAB, or Emulgen 109P, using the same molar amounts of surfactants as in the case of previously synthesized C 12 -DMAEMA latexes (The details of the synthetic procedure are shown in the Supporting Information.

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BackgroundThe three known subtypes of the retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor (ROR) have been implicated in the control of immunity, brain function, and circadian rhythm in mammals. Here, we demonstrate by phylogenetic analysis that there were originally four subtypes of RORs in vertebrates. One of the novel ror paralogs, rord1 (rorca in the Ensembl database), is conserved among teleosts, but absent in mammals. Using medaka (Oryzias latipes) as a model teleost, we evaluated the expression pattern of this gene, its transactivational properties for endogenic chemicals, and its ability to activate the promoters of putative target genes.ResultsIn eyes, the transcript of rord1 was expressed at higher levels during the day than at night. Interestingly, cholesterol derivatives, which are well-known ligands for mammalian RORs, did not efficiently promote transcriptional activity via RORd1. Thus we sought to identify the ligands that regulate the transcriptional activity of RORd1 using a luciferase reporter cell-based screening system. Using this system, we identified two metabolites of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), 4OH-ATRA and 4-keto ATRA, as potential ligands of RORd1. Moreover, RORd1 activated the promoter of cyp26a1 in a 4OH-ATRA -dependent manner.ConclusionsA novel ror subtype, rord has two paralogs, rord1 and rord2, in teleost. Rord1 mRNA is highly abundant in the eyes of medaka during light periods, suggesting that rord1 expression is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythm. We identified two ATRA metabolites, 4OH-ATRA and 4 K–ATRA, as endogenous candidate ligands of RORd1. We also show that 4-oxygenated ATRA metabolites have the potential to activate cyp26a1, the metabolic enzyme of ATRA. Our results support the notion that RORd1 is involved in the metabolism of ATRA in medaka.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40851-017-0074-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.